RUSTON – The Louisiana Tech men's basketball team will play its final non-conference game of the season on Saturday when they host Southern-New Orleans with tipoff set for 4 p.m. inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court.
 
The matchup will be streamed live on CUSA.tv (subscription required).  Fans can also listen to Dave Nitz and Jack Thigpen call the game on KXKZ 107.5 FM (Ruston), KOKA 93.3 FM/980 AM (Shreveport) and KJVC 92.7 FM (Mansfield) as well as on the LA Tech Athletics app.
 
Despite trailing at halftime for the first time at home all season, LA Tech (8-3) improved to 6-0 in the TAC with a 69-60 victory over North Carolina Central this past Tuesday. 
 
The Bulldogs had to overcome a hot-shooting performance by the Eagles who were 55 percent from the field and 50 percent from three.  To do so, they needed to use a second-half surge that included knocking down 14 free throws and pulling down nine offensive rebounds which turned into 18 second-chance points.
 
Derric Jean had arguably his best game of the year, scoring a season-high 15 points while making three three-pointers.  He also recorded three steals, something he has done three times now this season.
 
The redshirt senior is now just four points away from becoming the 42nd Bulldog in program history to reach 1,000 career points. 
 
He is averaging 8.7 points per game, one of seven players averaging at least eight (DaQuan Bracey – 12.6, Kalob Ledoux – 12.3, Amorie Archibald – 11.9, JaColby Pemberton – 9.7, Mubarak Muhammed – 9.2 and Isaiah Crawford – 8.0).
 
LA Tech is looking to go a perfect 7-0 in home non-conference games.  Since the 2008-09 season, the team is 76-4 in such games.
 
The opponent SUNO (3-8) enters Saturday coming off a 61-59 victory over MUW.  The Knights have played four Division I opponents this season as exhibitions and have suffered losses in all four games to McNeese State, Jackson State, Southeastern Louisiana and Lamar.
 
They have five players averaging double-figure points, led by Ray Anderson who is averaging 11.6 points to go along with 7.7 rebounds per game.  Chris Mark is another key contributor, averaging 11.2 points and a team-high 4.7 assists per contest.
 
This will mark the first ever meeting between LA Tech and SUNO.